Everything the Flyers do—signing Vincent Lecavalier, signing Mark Streit—makes a little more sense when you assume that general manager Paul Holmgren operates under different pretenses than his peers. But no matter how much of owner Ed Snider's "Atlas Shrugged" money he's allowed to spend, Holmgren has a finite amount of cap space. And no matter whether he gets under the upper limit—and of course he will—there's no real excuse for wasting that space, in drips and drabs.

If in two years, Snider signs off on a Cleary buyout, great for Holmgren—but that'll count against the cap, too. It might not be for much, but it'd still be a sunk cost. These things—a million here, a million there, a buyout there—add up. Sure, you can eat free pizza until you're almost sick, but it might not be the best decision.

In the short term, here's how the Flyers are going to make it work: They're not going to sign Cleary officially until they're permitted to put Chris Pronger and his $4.94 million cap hit on long-term injured reserve. Once that happens, they'll create the rest of the necessary space by clearing their logjam at defense with a trade or AHL demotions.

As for Cleary, he's a 34-year-old third-line winger coming off a decent season and a history of knee problems. He made it until the week of training camp without a contract. Now he's got … that one.

The deal also means that Philadelphia effectively squeezed out Simon Gagne, who was reportedly set to return on a PTO, 2012 first-round pick Scott Laughton and any other forward who was looking to make the roster out of camp. All would've been cheaper, more versatile options.

It also means that seven of Philadelphia's presumed top nine forwards are under contract for next year, with Brayden Schenn and Matt Read. the exceptions. So, there aren't many more cost-effective choices on the way—but in Philadelphia, there are rarely cost-effective choices at all.